"I never imagined that anyone could be this happy," Kate said, her eyes shining. She gazed at Nathaniel, who stood a few feet away visiting with two of his relatives. "The Almighty has blessed me beyond measure." Kate took Rebecca's good hand. "But I am worried for you."

"Jah," Miriam said. "Has your mamm taken a turn for the worse?"

"Nae. Considering it is wintertime, Mamm has been doing very well."

"I am glad to hear that," Miriam said.

Kate was not put off so easily. "You seemed upset just now, Rebecca. Can I do something to help you?"

"I am fine," Rebecca said. She had said that phrase so many times, she was thinking of embroidering it onto a pillow.

Kate withdrew her hand and managed a half smile. "Oh. Gute."

Miriam furrowed her brow. "You look so gloomy for such a happy occasion."

Rebecca cleared her throat. She couldn't close out her favorite cousins like this. "There is a certain young man at the wedding who is making a pest of himself."

"So many young men are flighty these days," Miriam said.

Kate studied Rebecca's face and frowned. "By the look on your face, I'd say that whoever he is, he has done something cruel." She gasped. "We shouldn't have coupled you up with Marvin."

"It is not Marvin Yutzy."

"Then who?" Kate said. "Shall I have Nathaniel speak to him?"

"Goodness gracious, no," Miriam said. "What would people think?"

Rebecca blanched at the thought. "I can take care of myself."

"I know you can," Kate said. "But if you have trouble, go right to Nathaniel. He will help you any way he can."

Rebecca hugged her cousins again and retreated to the kitchen.

Nathaniel was a gute man who would do anything for anybody, but he couldn't do the one thing she needed. He couldn't pluck the ice-cold pain from her heart.

Nathaniel hovered around his bride, Kate, like a moon in orbit.

The young people coupled up after lunch and sat in the large front room singing song after song. Levi was coupled with a girl named Priscilla, whom he couldn't coax to say one word. Priscilla smiled at him shyly but blushed profusely when he asked her any questions. Thank goodness the singing meant they didn't have to converse very much.

The newlyweds might as well have been the only people at the wedding, for all they paid attention to anyone else. They sat together on a bench in the corner exchanging whispers and meaningful looks. Levi's heart swelled so large, he thought it might pop out of his chest as he watched them. His longing for Rebecca grew with every moment he spent at the other man's wedding.

Emma Weaver, Kate's mamm, interrupted the singing when she and two of her daughters came into the room bearing trays of fruit and bread, soft pretzels, and chocolate for the singers. Someone handed Levi a cup and proceeded to pour him a helping of warm apple cider. Rebecca sat next to Marvin, who grinned smugly in Levi's direction whenever he thought Levi was watching. Levi tried not to look at either of them. The sight of Rebecca pretending to be happy with Marvin felt like someone stabbing a dull pencil right between Levi's shoulder blades.

He felt a firm hand on his shoulder and turned to see Nathaniel King smiling at him. "Are you enjoying the gathering?" he said.

"Someone pried you away from your wife?"

"My mother-in-law stole her," Nathaniel said. "But if she's not back in five minutes, I'll go searching."

Priscilla jumped up from her seat and moved to the safety of three friends across the room. Levi had just been dumped.

Nathaniel grabbed the arms of two young men behind him. "Adam, William, you remember Levi Cooper, don't you."

"Oh, jah," Adam said, "the new man at the shop."

Levi stood up and shook hands with both young men. "I've only worked there three days," he said. "It might take me a little time to learn all the names."

"He is very gute with his hands," Nathaniel said. "He came in the shop just as my nail gun jammed and fixed it, no problem. I hired him on the spot."

Levi smiled. Going into the shop five days before the boss's wedding turned out to be a terrific idea. Levi would do a good job for Nathaniel, but he wasn't sure if he got the job because of his skills or because Nathaniel's lovesick stupor compelled him to do good to the whole world-to offer a poor, fatherless outsider a much-needed job.

"You got moved in okay?" William said.

"My mom's family came by the buggyload. It only took us about an hour to move everything out and another hour to clean the old place. You Amish sure know how to do a job right."

"Don't say 'You Amish,'" Nathaniel said, putting a brotherly arm around Levi's shoulders. "You're one of us now."

"Even if your accent is a little rusty," William said. "But we promise not to tease you about your speech impediment."

Levi grinned. Maybe he could make a few friends among his neighbors.

"Is where you are staying a gute place?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, it's the perfect size for me and my mamm. But we want to move into our own house as soon as we get some money." He nodded to Nathaniel. "I am grateful for the job."

"Do not thank me yet. The work is hard. You'll earn your money."

"I'm not afraid of hard work."

"Jah, I can tell. That is why I hired you." Nathaniel looked around the room. "Where is your mamm?"

"She is probably in the kitchen watching them prepare the evening meal," Levi said. She was still not allowed to help because of the shunning, but it did not seem to bother her. "She is very, very happy to be back."

Two girls diverted Adam and William's attention and left Levi and Nathaniel standing alone.

To Levi's surprise, Nathaniel pointed to Rebecca. "That is Rebecca Miller, my wife's cousin. Would you like me to introduce you? You were staring at her like a piece of butterscotch pie. She is pretty."

"She's beautiful," Levi said, hoping his despair didn't make him sound like a slobbering puppy. "And I'm in love with her."

Nathaniel laughed at what he thought was Levi's teasing. "What? You have been to the wedding half a day and you already love my wife's cousin?" He nudged Levi with his elbow. "She's with Marvin Yutzy."

The lump in Levi's throat rendered him mute. He nodded.

Nathaniel took one look at Levi's face and the eternal smile left him. "You are serious," he said. "How do you know Rebecca?"

Levi took a deep breath. "It's too long a story for a groom on his wedding day."

Nathaniel studied Levi's face. "She's broken your heart, hasn't she?" He closed his eyes and massaged his forehead. "I know how that feels, and I never want to go there again."

"This is a very bad topic for your wedding day."

Nathaniel saw the bride almost before she walked into the room, like he had some sort of radar only for her. He smiled sadly at Levi. "I want to help," he said. "When I get back from visiting relatives in Ohio, we will talk."

Unconvinced, Levi inclined his head as he watched Nathaniel resume his orbit around his wife.

You can't help me, Nathaniel. No one can.

Chapter Thirty-Four.

February second. Groundhog Day. The snow fell in bushels all night, burying the farm's already-deep layer of snow in still more snow. Rebecca watched from the window in the dismal light of dawn as Max and Danny tried to make a path up the sidewalk with their oversized shovels. A full scoop of the wet snow probably weighed thirty pounds. Max stuffed a handful of snow down Danny's back, and Rebecca heard his screams muffled through the window.

Most likely, today the groundhog wouldn't even come out of his hole long enough to be scared away by his shadow. It didn't matter. Rebecca held no hope for an early spring. Winter would probably last until May, followed by a scorching-hot summer and a miserable, soggy autumn. Why did anyone want to live in Wisconsin?

Rebecca wrapped her shawl around her shoulders as she tended the pancakes on the griddle. The woodstove in the basement had started smoking something terrible this morning, and Rebecca dared not stoke a fire. The house seemed almost as cold as the outdoors. Mamm would have to be moved to the front room near the fireplace if the old cast-iron stove wasn't up and running soon.

She glanced at the thermometer hanging outside the kitchen window. Fifteen degrees. Jah, that stove must be fixed right quick.

Rebecca carried Mamm's breakfast into her bedroom. Mamm lay wrapped in her quilt, shivering quietly.

"The stove is smoking again," Rebecca said.

"I should have known. It's freezing."

"I started a fire in the fireplace. Max will fetch Menno Glick as soon as he and Danny clear a path."

"Jah. I think I will go to the front room. Will you help me up?"

Rebecca placed the breakfast tray on the side table and took her mother's hand. It was cold as ice. "I will make up a bed for you right by the fire."

Max knocked then stuck his head in the room. "I found someone to fix the stove," he said, avoiding Rebecca's eyes.

"Already? Good work."

Rebecca followed him to the entryway, where Levi Cooper stood smiling sheepishly and holding a red rose.

She glared at Max.

"He was passing by," Max whispered. "You want the stove fixed, don't you?"

Levi didn't take his eyes from her face. She saw such tenderness in his expression that she almost ran into his arms. She knew she would find comfort there. Comfort from the sorrow of losing Dottie Mae and losing him. Comfort from the miserable chore that was her life.

Rebecca cleared the lump in her throat. She didn't need comfort. She needed a good kick in the hinnerdale.

Levi held out the rose, and she took it out of reflex and tossed it onto the sofa.

"I was walking to work," he said. "Max said you needed help."

Max nodded. "You are persistent to deliver roses in this weather."

"How is the shoulder?" Levi asked.

"Healed fine," Rebecca replied.

"What can I do?"

"We-our stove is smoking something awful," Rebecca said, prying her gaze from Levi's handsome face and turning quickly on her heels. "In the basement."

Both Levi and Max followed her down the steep stairs. Rebecca felt the sting of embarrassment that Levi should see the poor condition of the basement, even though she tried not to care. The bare cement floor was riddled with cracks and holes, and cobwebs floated in the air like dandelion parachutes. An unruly pile of coal spread itself in the corner. And the mildew smell wouldn't disappear, no matter how much bleach Rebecca swabbed the floor with.

Levi didn't seem to notice anything amiss with the room. Holding the lantern Max had given him, he silently studied the stove. He ran his fingers carefully over the top and around the flue and its joints. Squatting at the front, he opened and closed the door and checked the seal around the edges. Rebecca loved watching those capable hands-the shape of his long fingers, the veins that pulsed under the skin, the muscles flexing up his arms. Levi seemed to know what needed to be done simply by touching something.

"It's an old stove," he said, looking at Rebecca with concern. "Years past its expiration date."

"We cannot afford-"

Levi smiled at her. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I can fix it, but we'll have to light a fire to check for leaks. Do you have something to block the light from the windows? The room needs to be completely dark."

Rebecca tromped upstairs and pulled two old blankets out of the closet. When she returned, Levi and Max had the stove filled with newspaper and kindling.

Tuesday had been her last day in the sling, but her shoulder still felt sore as she strained on tiptoes to stuff the bulky blanket into the small window nearest the stove.

As she struggled, she felt Levi's warm hands cover hers and his breath on her cheek. "Here, let me," he said.

Trembling, she backed away as he took the blankets and, with his superior height, easily smothered the first window and then the second.

The room went black except for the small lantern in Max's hand. Levi lit a match, and the fire danced on the newspaper before spreading to the kindling. He shut the door and held the lantern close to the flue. Rebecca heard the fire crackle in the stove and smelled the burning hickory.

Holding the lantern aloft, Levi concentrated intently on the stove. Rebecca could see the muscles in his arm and shoulder rippling under his shirt. She felt the familiar, tortuous tug on her heart. Why hadn't Max fetched old Menno Glick to fix the stove instead of the boy she was trying to forget, the boy who was so hard to shake from her soul?

"There it is," Levi said, holding the lantern higher. "Do you see it?"

The beam of light illuminated a continuous puff of smoke coming from the top flue.

"Easy to fix," he said. "Oh, wait-look." He pointed to another spot farther down the stovepipe that also emitted a steady stream of smoke. "Two leaks."

He pulled a pen out of his pocket and marked the flue then pulled the blankets from the windows before saying, "Max, will you put out the fire?"

His hand brushed against her arm as he handed her the blankets. She determined to ignore the sensation.